Indians’ Breslow: I Think Callaway Is Going To Become An ‘Impressive’ Manager

October 25, 2017 2:58 PM

NEW YORK (WFAN) — Craig Breslow didn’t play for Mickey Callaway for long, but he was with the Cleveland Indians long enough to get the feeling the Mets landed a young manager with a lot of promise.

The veteran relief pitcher who joined the Indians in August told WFAN’s Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts that Callaway was “an impressive pitching coach who became an impressive managerial candidate who I think is going to become an impressive major league manager.”

“Really engaging, very approachable,” Breslow said. “I saw that he was able to kind of cultivate relationships with individuals, with a number of guys from diverse backgrounds, with diverse skill sets, and he got along really well with each of them. And I think when you think about what it takes to be a successful manager in this game, managing personalities is probably at the top of the list of things that at least I would be looking for.”

Pitching coaches are generally not popular choices to become managers. There are only two other skippers with such backgrounds currently in the majors: the Rockies’ Bud Black and the Reds’ Bryan Price. But Breslow said that should be considered an attribute, not a detriment.

“If you … think about what’s probably the most difficult task entrusted in a big-league manager, I think running a bullpen is a very high on that list,” said Breslow, who will be a free agent this offseason. “And as a guy with a background as a pitching coach, I think that he would be able to step into that role and understand when situations call for pulling a starter, bringing in a reliever, getting a feel for the temperature of his bullpen.”

Breslow added that Mets fans can expect a manager who is tuned into sabermetrics but who won’t rely too heavily on numbers.

Mets manager Mickey Callaway (credit: CBS2)

“I do think he’s going to be someone who embraces advanced analytics and advanced metrics but also isn’t so blinded by data that he can’t relate to people on a personal level,” he said.